The Good, The Bad, The Ugly - Week 1
Have we reached full panic mode yet? One week into the season, and the Eagles are currently in last place of the NFC East. After being routed by the Falcons to the tune of 14-10, all of the experts must be just about poised to write the Eagles off as entering their inevitable post-Super Bowl loss slump.
But take a look at that score again: 14-10. That’s right, the Eagles lost on the road, to a playoff calibur team by 4 points. Perhaps we need to look a bit more closely at the real implications of this game:
The Good
- Does anyone see a problem between Owens and McNabb now? Sure we were hoping for two touchdowns, but I’ll take 112 yards on 7 catches and some friendly talk on the sidelines. Owens needs to step up more down the line, but he seems to at least be on the same page as the team already.
- Two words: Brian Dawkins. The man, the myth, the legend put together one of the most incredible games of his career inspite of missing time due to cramps. The final line: 6 tackles, 2 sacks, 1 interceptions, and 1 forced fumble.
- Patterson is the real deal. He got major push on plays against a decent offensive line.
- McNabb really didn’t miss a beat. What most people are missing (or just plain ignoring) from his performance last night was throwing for over 250 yards and a touchdown with his only interception coming when he was speared by Chad Lavalais. Not great, but solid.
- The defense once again contained Vick. Even with the loss of Trotter, the Eagles D held the Falcons scoreless for three quarters. And, despite what many analysts might claim, Vick didn’t really do much to preserve the win until that one scramble in the 4th quarter.
The Bad
- Akers, why have you forsaken us? Yes, every kicker has a bad day, but missing two 49 yarders in a dome is very un-”Mr. Automatic”-like. In such a low scoring game, that’s the difference between winning and losing.
- The Run D was terrible. For now we can blame it on the absense of Trotter, but let’s hope that JJ can scheme better for the possibility of his knees not holding up an entire season. Otherwise, the playoffs could get far more difficult.
- We do have receivers not named Owens, correct? Lewis and LJ eventually combined for 8 catches on the night, but I was hoping to see more from Brown. Was McCants even active?
- I almost forgot, Andy, I know you prefer passing, but 45 passing plays compared to 14 running? Come on. I’m hoping it’s just indicative that Gordon isn’t up to speed yet, but his only carry was up the gut for 4 yards - why didn’t they do that 4 or 5 more times?
- Penalties! Penalties! Penalties! The Eagles had 4 illegal formation calls alone. This will be taken care of in practice, or heads will roll.
The Ugly
- This is pretty obvious - Trotter. The Falcons do not have 200 yards rushing last night with Trotter in the middle. He should know better then to get into scuffles before games. Regardless, it is an absolute travesty that he was ejected when replays clearly showed Mathis was the only one who threw a punch.
- One more that clearly isn’t in the Eagles control, but the officiating was bad at best. I am getting sick and tired of Eagles defenders getting 15 yard penalties everytime they breathe on opposing QBs, and yet players get free hits on Donovan all the time. The league needs to take care of this blatant disparity.
Final Notes
I hate starting off the season with a loss as much as the next guy. Actually, probably more than the next guy. But this one wasn’t that bad. It was a road loss to one of the best teams in the NFC. You can’t win them all. And considering they had to play the best running team without their starting MLB, what do you expect? I honestly felt like the Falcons played one of their better games, and the Eagles played one of their worst. And for that, I am far more confident in the Eagles chances down the stretch than the Falcons.
And one last point - Michael Vick did not win that game last night, the Falcons defense did.
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Posted on September 13, 2005 by Thom | Filed Under Eagles, Philadelphia
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Good break down. Agreed on every point. Dawkins was a hero last night and I liked what I saw from Patterson. The O line was suspect though and none of the DEs had any production. We all know Andy is a pass first guy but the running was abysmal. Play action doesn’t work when the LBs immediately drop into pass coverage.
Somewhat painful to watch but could’ve been much worse.
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Very nice analysis. I’ll add a few things.
First, the cheap shots were being well distributed by the Falcolns. Their game plan was obviously to come out and “out tough” the Eagles and disrupt their conentration with cheap shots. I counted at least three time when Owens got hit after the play.
In my view, the offensive and defensive lines just weren’t winning their battles. On offense, I trembled with fear at each snap at the ball, because I was sure that the Falcolns D-Line would win the battle.
I didn’t think McNabb was doing a good job at reading the Falcolns defense. There were a bunch of times when he sent Westbrook running right into the side of an obvious blitz. Also, they needed to take more advantage of the single coverage on the WRs.
My biggest worry right now is the O-Line. The offense ain’t gonna run unless they do a better job.
The D line was dominnt in the 2nd half actually…..this all comes down to Dmac being hurt which effected everything, withthe Falcons playing balls out they only beat us cuz Akers had an untypical game.
Thanks for the comments. I definitely agree on the O-line. While McNabb had enough time on a number of plays, I didn’t feel that confident. Hicks, in particular, seemed to have real problems. It wasn’t Thomas’s best game either.
As far as the D-line, the DTs played well, but didn’t have the MLB support they needed. The DEs, however, were virtually non-existent. Kearse took sometime to work into the system last season, I think he’ll get back into the swing of things next week.